SIX PERSONS SUSPECTED FOR SECRET WEAPONS WAREHOUSE IN MOSTAR

MOSTAR, May 13 (Hina) - Six high ranking persons are currently being processed as suspects and possibly being responsible for a secret weapons warehouse recently discovered in eastern Mostar, Interior Minister for Hercegovina-Neretva Canton Goran Bilic told journalists on Monday. #L# He did not wish to name any of the "high ranking persons", stressing that their names would be released once the investigation was completed. He further noted that the list of suspects could be extended in the next few days. Bilic confirmed that over 5,000 120mm mortar shells were found in the warehouse in eastern Mostar while a further two tonnes of gun powder was discovered in a nearby building. Bilic explained that the shells found were identical to those found in April in a similarly built warehouse in eastern Mostar inhabited mostly by Bosnian Muslims. Bilic confirmed that the shells were produced some time during 1995 and 1996 even though the factory was not registered to manufacture weapons. Bilic informed that the factory personnel were also being investigated and to determine if anyone in the then government in Bosnia ordered or knew about the production of the weaponry. According to Bilic, the shells found all had detonators which means they were intended to be used and not transported. He further confirmed that some cases containing the weapons were marked with Arabic script. Asked by journalists whether former Mostar mayor Safet Orucevic was responsible for the secret warehouse, Bilic said that there were no such indications. (hina) sp